“This is Kat Tolentino, number 10, signing off,” Filipino-Canadian Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Lady Eagle Katrina Mae Tolentino ended her tearful speech at the Lady Eagles’ thanksgiving mass at the Church of the Gesu last Saturday, May 18 – an event celebrating the recent championship win of the women’s volleyball team in the 81st season of the University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) against the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Lady Tigresses.
Although the six-foot-three recruit from Canada expressed uncertainty to the press after winning the third game of the best-of-three finals on the same day, Tolentino announced finalizing her decision at the event for her alma mater a few hours later.
In her words, “I just want to say how blessed and thankful I am to God that I’m not just an athlete who had 3 ACL injuries,” adding, “But one can finally say that I’m an athlete with three ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries, one absolutely unforgettable championship, and one Ateneo family forever.”
She elaborated, “By the third ACL, I had already considered to stop playing volleyball and to be a regular student. It was to the point where I couldn’t even watch Ateneo games because I was afraid to see athletes jump and land or fall because of the fear of my injury. When I went back from my third ACL injury, I asked God not just to make me healthy but to be part of a team that will help me find my passion back for volleyball. This has been that team.”
With season 81 being her first and final collegiate top trophy, Tolentino elaborated, “I’m gonna miss the 6 am call times and the 9 pm end times. We suffered a lot, we sacrificed together a lot but now we’re champions together.”
Originally from Richmond, British Columbia, the wing spiker averaged 12.7 points per game in the most recent UAAP season, also being hailed the league’s fourth-best scorer with 156 attacks, 32 blocks, and 12 aces. She began making a name for herself in the local volleyball season last Premier Volleyball League (PVL) Conference.